This February Full moon lands in the zodiac at 26 degrees Leo at 11.54 am GMT on 12th February 2014. There are no major fixed star influences or asteroids to note in this full moon chart but a few planetary aspects, some of which I will focus on below, as well as our current Mercury retrograde.
Full moons are a time when what’s hidden or kept under wraps comes out for expression. This full moon will challenge our ability to be authentic and congruent in our expression and balance of thought and feeling. It’s asking us to look at how we are real and genuine.
With the Aquarius Leo balance we are being asked to look at our quest for self-love and how that fits in with our love for others. How are we loving and being loved? Are we being real and authentic in our ways of loving others? Are we experiencing unconditional love from others?
In a very real sense we might feel torn between our collaboration and connection with others and our own needs for creativity, authentic expression and independence and the deeper layers and levels this echoes out at.
This full moon might be more volatile, dynamic and exciting than most. The closest aspect is the tight Moon sextile Mars, quite steamy, physical and creative, even more so with the Leo element. The downside is the potential for frustration and anger. This aspect will encourage us to take the initiative, perhaps even take sides in conflict and spur us towards action.
The strongest aspect is Sun conjunct Mercury, which encourages communication. With the Moon opposite Mercury conjunct Sun, we have logic and gut feeling polarised. We also have Mercury trine Mars which means this action (spurred on by the Moon Mars) might also be more verbal. It certainly has an outward quality to it.
Mercury is retrograde, has been for a while now and this increases misunderstandings. When this is combined with this full moon, where emotions often heighten, we have a mixed, confusing bag that could result in us experiencing more conflict than creativity. It’s best to hold fire a little and pay some attention to that moment before we speak.
Over this month, the peak hotspot times for miscommunication are when Mercury stations retrograde, which was 6th February, and when it stations direct on 28th February. As it stations direct, the hidden, lost information is revealed allowing us to breathe a sigh of relief, returning to us order and clarity. Until 28th though, we might need to tolerate, (or harness) that space of uncertainty.
As Mercury walks through the same territory three times, going back and forth, we might experience more mental activity than usual and less real communication. Grounding, being more present and paying more attention to what’s really happening with those around becomes more important when the discerning, discriminating energies that usually ground us are less accessible.
So the resulting entropy, in other words the chaos and disorder, means that the signals we give each other are more confused and less congruent. We give off lots of double signals. We say one thing and deep down really mean another, but accessing deep down is just what we need to do right now to bring our thoughts, feelings, words and actions into a deeper alignment.
Authenticity is about being real with people, despite the fear. How often do we do or say things that we know others want to hear so we receive their admiration or get what we want? How do we hide behind functions and roles, even the listener role, trying to look interested, and not really accessing what’s really going on for ourselves? What do you really need for yourself right now? How are you really going to bring yourself into this world in a real way? How often do we dig deep within ourselves to find what’s real for us?
We spend lots of time worrying about what others think, subtly pulled into other peoples’ needs, fitting into boxes so that other people feel safe or unthreatened, making ourselves wrong, the list goes on. We so want others to love us, but we forget that we first need to love ourselves. If we resist our own humanity, avoid seeing ourselves as humans with needs, then our energy will seep and drain from us. Inauthenticity, in my experience, leads to exhaustion.
This time is not about keeping to our commitments, arrangements and plans to suit others. It’s about following the deepest part of ourselves, even if that means letting others down. Allowing plans to change based on your feelings is a part of life, more so if you are inclined to keep your word at all costs.
Perhaps for some it’s time to unlearn this a little. And if you can’t stand to let others down, then learn how to keep your plans open, learn how to say, “can I have a think about that and let you know”, or quite simply, with total congruence, “no”. Saying no and meaning no is a real learning curve that creates a leap in consciousness.
It’s the time for going against the grain a little, being avant garde, gently brave, standing up for what you really feel and perceive, but without too much force. You might fear your unpopularity if you follow yourself deeply, but you might also be surprised. People lap up clarity of perception when miscommunication is rife. But you won’t find it unless you go silent, within and down.
Deliberately slow down, go into the silence within, close your eyes, spend time with your inner world. Avoid getting too pulled into the over communication or the strong emotional tides unless you know you can handle them and keep your awareness close at hand.
